The desirability of preparing compounds containing hydroxyl groups, whereby such materials could be incorporated into other compounds by reaction of the hydroxyl groups, has been widely recognized. Such hydroxyl-containing materials find wide use in the production of polyurethanes and in the production of coating materials curable through the reaction of the hydroxyl groups with such materials as melamine resins and blocked isocyanates.
Graft copolymer dispersions prepared from vinyl monomers and polyether polyols and the use thereof in the preparation of polyurethane polymers are known in the art (see, e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,383,351; 3,652,639; and 3,823,201). Although these graft copolymers of the prior art impart improved load-bearing properties to polyurethane foams prepared therefrom, they are not true solutions, but are, at best, stable dispersions which, in most cases, eventually separate into two phases.